Monday, January 12, 2015

The President's plan to fund community colleges sounds great: It would
reduce the high costs of college and also provide job preparation in
areas where there are shortages, such as carpentry, electrical work,
construction, and plumbing, specialties that do not require a four-year
degree. ("Obama, in Tennessee, Begins Selling His Community College
Tuition Plan," January 9).

Our concern is the requirement that
"Community colleges must also adopt promising and evidence-based
institutional reforms to improve student outcomes." Does this mean an
expansion of the common core, bringing expensive and untested standards
and nonstop testing to the college level?